Friday, November 1, 2013

In a previous post, we talked about what makes a great information business. In a sentence: great information businesses (1) have proprietary data or insight, (2) embedded within a business process, and (3) delivered through software. The combination of those three factors tends to yield defensible, profitable, scalable businesses.But how do those factors translate into the financial statements and metrics that we use to operate and value information businesses?First, a bit of a primer on accounting in subscription-based businesses. After all, who doesn't love an accounting lesson?Wait - come back! I promise, it won't take but a moment. Let's say you've got an information business which sells a subscription-based product. When a customer signs a non-cancelable contract for, say, 12 months of service for $120k, no revenue is generated up-front. Instead, the revenue is equally recognized over the life of the contract - in this case, $10k per month.Until recognized, the revenue remains on the balance sheet as deferred revenue. Remember that metric - it's the single most important thing to look at in an info business.Now, let's presume that the customer pays up-front - which is typical in info businesses. The cash balance of the business, therefore, is enriched immediately - allowing the further re-investment of that cash into the business.OK - enough accounting. Let's back back to the metrics that matter.If you were able to look at only three metrics to assess an information business, what would they be? Here are mine, in priority order:

1. Deferred revenue. Did you skip over the accounting section above? If so, go back and read it. For those still with us, deferred revenue growth is the best forward-looking indicator of revenue performance. Want to know whether an info business is trending upwards or downwards? Don't make the mistake of looking at past revenue performance - deferred revenue is all that matters.2. Operating cash flow. Great info businesses shouldn't need ongoing injections of capital. Instead, customers fund the growth of the business with up-front payments. Therefore, operating cash flow should be growing in lockstep with the growth of the business overall. 3. Renewal rates. A growing deferred revenue balance is terrific - it means customers are continuing to invest more and more in their relationship with you. But which customers? Renewal rates - on a dollar basis, in particular - are the best indicator of client satisfaction with the offering. And satisfaction = stickiness = goodness.On to my final point. If you've spent time looking at SaaS businesses, some of these metrics might look familiar. In fact, very familiar. To put a fine point on it: great info businesses look, act, smell, and taste just like great SaaS businesses. The physics are the same, the business dynamics are the same, the cash generation abilities are the same...etc etc etc.So that's it. Of course, there are hundreds (thousands?) of other metrics we could consider - especially when we start talking about valuing information businesses. But for my money, deferred revenue growth, operating cash flow, and renewal rates are the right place to start.What do you think?

Charles - What's cooler than accounting? Not much - I love that you highlighted the deferred revenue liability as a figure to study for information businesses. Very excited to see your blog and will enjoy reading these when posted brother.

Quick Bio

Charles Rutstein was most recently Chief Operating Officer and a corporate director at Forrester Research. Under Rutstein's executive leadership, the firm nearly doubled in size to approximately $300m, more than doubled earnings, and beat the Nasdaq by a wide margin.

Rutstein joined Forrester from Price Waterhouse Management Consulting Services, where he was a Principal Consultant. During his tenure at the firm, he wrote a best-selling book, Windows NT Security.

Rutstein has had wide exposure in national and international media, including The McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, ABC, Bloomberg, Canadian radio news, CNBC, NBC, MSNBC, and NPR.

He currently sits on the boards of two firms: CallMiner and Buyer’s Lab, Inc.

Charles holds a B.A. in economics from Hobart College and an M.B.A. in strategic and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.